MR. STANZEL: I'll go through the President's schedule a little
bit, and then -- for today and tomorrow. And then we're lucky to be
joined here by Don Powell, and he can go through some of the efforts to
help rebuild the Gulf Coast. And he'll take your questions, and then if
you have any other extraneous questions at the end, I can take those, as
well.

Just before we took off, you should all have received -- just want
to draw to your attention a statement by the President on new Census
figures that show that incomes are rising, more Americans are pulling
themselves out of poverty, but more work remains to help Americans get
better access to health care.

As you all know, as well, the President had a foreign leader call
earlier today that occurred just before 1:00 p.m. Eastern time. The
President called Abdullah Gul this morning to congratulate him -- this
morning Pacific time -- to congratulate him on his election as President
of Turkey. The President reiterated the United States' commitment to a
strong relationship with our partner and ally, Turkey.

On the Gulf Coast trip, we are obviously now en route to New
Orleans. Don Powell, the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast rebuilding
efforts, is on board and will be with us throughout the visit.

Tonight and tomorrow the President and Mrs. Bush will visit New
Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. This will be the President's
15th visit to the region since Hurricane Katrina. The President
continues to follow through on his commitment to help local citizens
rebuild their lives and communities on the Gulf Coast. The federal
government has provided more than $114 billion for relief, recovery and
rebuilding efforts, and over $96 billion of which has been disbursed or
is available for the states to draw from.

A little bit on his schedule. Tonight at 7:00 p.m., if we make up
some time in the air, the President will attend dinner with Louisiana
cultural and community leaders. That location is to be announced, and
we'll have a list of participants for you on that. That is in New
Orleans.

Then tomorrow morning at 8:45 a.m., the President and Mrs. Bush
will participate in a meeting with Louisiana education officials. That
will be at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Charter School. That is closed
press. We'll also have a list of participants for you on that meeting.
At 9:20 a.m. tomorrow morning, President and Mrs. Bush will remain at
the school and highlight the importance of education and rebuilding the
city after Hurricane Katrina. That's pool coverage. At 9:38 a.m., the
President and Mrs. Bush will observe a moment of silence to mourn the
lives lost during Hurricane Katrina. That's also at the school. At
9:45 a.m., the President will make a statement at the school on New
Orleans rebuilding efforts.

Then we will travel to Mississippi, to Bay St. Louis. The
President and Mrs. Bush will participate in a briefing on Mississippi
rebuilding efforts. That's at 12:25 p.m., and that is closed press.
And at 1:00 p.m., the President makes a statement on Mississippi
rebuilding efforts. And that will be at Our Lady of the Gulf Parish
Community Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and that will be pool
coverage. And we return to Washington and will arrive in Washington at
about 5:45 p.m. tomorrow evening.

So that's the President's schedule for the next day or so. And
with that, I'll turn it over to Chairman Powell to give you a sense of
our rebuilding efforts.

CHAIRMAN POWELL: Thanks, Scott.

Anybody want to start with the questions, or do you want me to say
a couple of things to begin with? Let me make a couple of comments, and
then I'll take your questions.

I think it's important -- I always do this when -- I think it's
important to, once again, remember how large and catastrophic event this
was. I don't have to tell you that New Orleans was under water about 60
days, the city the size of nine Manhattans, displaced 1,500,000 people.
So the devastation you can -- and in Mississippi, there was more debris
in the three counties of Mississippi than the World Trade Center and all
of Hurricane Andrew combined. So it's a large, large, catastrophic
event.

When the federal government thinks about -- we divide our efforts
into three areas as it relates to long-term rebuilding. One is, what
are we directly responsible for? And this past week an example of that
is rebuilding the levee system. The levee systems are better and
stronger than they've ever been in the history of New Orleans. In order
for New Orleans to be a viable city going forward, the most important
thing in the long-term rebuilding is the levee system. People want to
feel that they're safe.

When I first went down there, there were three issues, I came back
and told the President, specifically as it relates to New Orleans. One
was levees, two was levees, and three was levees. Levees on the mind of
everybody down there. And there was -- in my view, I tended in the top
three, perhaps the most important announcement this past week as it
relates to this President's commitment to rebuilding the levee system,
and that simply was that we were announcing that the Corps and we would
seek funds to rebuild the levee system to the 100 level hurricane
protection. And what was more important, we showed maps for the entire
New Orleans area -- how it would relate to your specific area once that
is completed. And you can see dramatic differences between before
Katrina, the way they are now, and after that work is done. That's
targeted to be done in 2011.

Also this President spoke to a need that's been occurring for some
time in New Orleans -- that relates to the internal drainage system.
New Orleans floods for lots of reasons, just normal rainfall. And so
the President will ask the Congress to spend $1 billion 300 million to
enhance that internal drainage system. So it's a hurricane protection,
$7.5 billion, and I think that is terribly important, because if you're
-- everything else falls off of that. If you're going to move back to
New Orleans, you're going to rebuild your life in New Orleans, you want
to be able to know I'm safe behind the levee system.

What was more dramatic, if you live at 101 North Rosemont Street,
you can home in on your home via the technology we have, and see what
your home would look like if, in fact, the one in 100 years flood
occurred. So it's dramatic about what kind of protection this will give
to the people in New Orleans.

That's an example of what the federal government is directly
responsible for. The second area is, we're partners with the state and
the locals in certain things, and partners such as the project work
sheets that you hear a lot about, the money coming down to rebuild the
infrastructure. That's terribly important. We want to be good partners
in that area. Again I'm homing in on New Orleans because that's where
we're going. I could talk about Mississippi, would be happy to answer a
question about Mississippi, but New Orleans -- it's estimated that the
infrastructure rebuilding will cost $6.3 billion -- $6.3 billion. Of
that amount, the federal government has obligated to states 80 percent.
That's in their bank account. They have the money. And the state has
obligated only about 50 percent of that back to the locals.

Let me give you specifics on the city of New Orleans. It's
estimated the infrastructure for the city of New Orleans is $1.8
billion. And the federal government has obligated toward that end about
$1.3 billion. Now, there has been a certain amount of frustration as
relates to that. Our office works with FEMA very directly about making
sure that the federal government is not an impediment to that. And
we're going to -- we have announced this past week that we're going to
have a website directed and committed to transparency, where, if you're
a stakeholder, if you're a mom, you're a father, and you want to know
when your school, your fire station is going to be rebuilt and where is
it in this process, you're going to be able to access the web and see
where the holdup is. That's, again, transparency. And it's very
powerful. It's like those maps -- you're going to be able to -- you
don't have to guess, you're going to be able to see that. And that will
be enhanced as we go forward.

That's an example of the partnership. Then there's another area
that is the exclusive authority and responsibility of the state. And
example of that is the Road Home Program. As you know, the Road Home
Program uses CDBG money that the taxpayers, under the leadership of this
President, committed to the people to rebuild their homes. It's an
exclusive program of the state. They design the program, they
administer the program. Are we interested in the program? Absolutely.
Do we have weekly conversations about where are we on this thing? We
make sure that the federal government is not an impediment in that. But
that program is an exclusive -- ran by the state.

Okay, so those are kind of three things that I talk about as we
talk about rebuilding. And I'll be happy to answer specific questions
about other areas of the quality of life, of education to health care,
to criminal justice. And I focus more on New Orleans because that's
where we're going, but Mississippi obviously is critical to the
rebuilding of this whole area, too.

Q -- question which is -- the President promised in Jackson
Square that New Orleans would not only be rebuilt, but would be better
than it was before. And doesn't that kind of promise sort of require
not trying to delineate, well, this is our responsibility, but that's
your responsibility? Doesn't this require getting in there and saying,
it doesn't really matter whose responsibility it is, we're going to make
it happen?

CHAIRMAN POWELL: Well, I think it's -- we've got direct
responsibility over the levees. No one shares that with us. So I think
it's important that we focus on that. And I think he has spoken to some
of those issues, it's going to be better. The levee system, which is
the fundamental --

Q I'm not asking about specifics. I'm asking about over all. I
mean, certainly the levee system is primarily and exclusively the
responsibility of the federal government. But doesn't a promise like
that require that you look at everything and say, well, I'm not going to
ignore that just because it might not be in my area?

CHAIRMAN POWELL: We're involved in all components. We're involved
to make sure that the federal government -- whatever the federal
government resources or needs may be, or may not -- that doesn't mean
that we don't focus in on these other issues. We do a lot.

For instance, the Attorney General is down there today setting up a
domestic violence center. That -- criminal justice is a local issue,
but we have -- the federal government has spent more than $60 million in
shoring up the criminal system -- additional U.S. marshals, additional
FBI agents, crime labs. So we don't ignore those issues that are just
-- relates to the state.

Obviously education is a local issue. The federal government has
been tremendously responsible in shoring that up. As relates to the
PWs, we've been directly engaged -- and I think it would be the
testimony of Paul Pastorek, the State Superintendent, that without the
federal government's -- without FEMA's help, the schools would not be up
and going today. That was -- I attended meetings where there was
obviously some -- (inaudible) -- going on as it relates to how are we
going to get these temporary quarters for the schools. And so, yes,
we're involved in all those fronts.

Q What do you say to people who say that New Orleans can't and
shouldn't be rebuilt?

CHAIRMAN POWELL: You know, that's an issue that -- the rebuilding
of New Orleans as -- and the whole city as it relates to the planning
for the future is an issue that the locals control, and they should plan
their own destiny. Those people that say New Orleans should not be
rebuilt -- it's important to focus on, New Orleans has been there for
300-some odd years. I think it's important for us to focus on that we
should be smarter, and we should be more responsible as we go forward in
the rebuilding of New Orleans. That's wise use of the taxpayers' money.

And I'm confident that the people in New Orleans understand and
recognize that they want to be more responsible and be smart in how they
rebuild. But I don't have to tell you about the economic importance of
New Orleans and the port is to the entire nation.

Q Earlier you mentioned some frustrations in conjunction with
the $1.3 billion. I was wondering if you could talk about some other
frustrations that you've had in this whole process.

CHAIRMAN POWELL: I have a sense of urgency about everything. I'm
a businessperson, and that's where I've spent 38 years of my life. I'm
not very tolerant of, well, we've got to wait on this, we've got to wait
on that. I want to be sure that we lay aside duplication efforts, we
lay aside any bureaucracy that, in fact, may not be important, and get
the job done. I'm from West Texas -- "get her done" type of -- so I
have certain frustrations about the pace of things. Having said that, I
also see a tremendous amount of progress -- I see a tremendous amount of
progress. I see economic vitality in the area. I was down there this
past week. It took me about 28 minutes to get from the airport to
downtown. That's called a traffic jam. You don't have a traffic jam
unless there's activity.

Q But at the same time, you're seeing very little of the
population, and particularly in the poorer sections, like the Lower 9th
Ward, have returned to New Orleans and have been able to rebuild. How
are you addressing that?

CHAIRMAN POWELL: Orleans Parish, the population of Orleans Parish
is 66 percent back. In the greater New Orleans, it's 80 percent-plus.
I think that's rather remarkable for a two-year period. And the other
parishes surrounding New Orleans, except St. Bernard Parish, they're at
-- back to pre-Katrina within two or three percent. And sales tax
revenues, all -- except St. Bernard Parish and Orleans Parish -- in
Orleans Parish they're within 80 percent of what they were. So I think
there's lots of economic activity. Building permits, restaurants, the
port, energy, all those things are --

Q The Lower 9th Ward is one of the most impoverished areas of
the region. Many residents who lived there before felt neglected. What
do you say if they today now feel that way, that, well, they're not back
up to snuff, whereas everybody else is much further ahead?

CHAIRMAN POWELL: I say to those people -- and I have a sense of
responsibility -- but one of the things I remember looking at is St.
Bernard Parish and the 9th Ward and New Orleans East was some of the
most devastated areas as it relates to the storm. If you look at those
flood maps, it is dramatic in those areas how much they're improved.

So, again, that's the federal government's commitment, to making
sure that it crosses the entire section of those areas. There is some
activity going on in the 9th Ward. I go to the 9th Ward often. I see
some people going -- that area was devastated, as was St. Bernard
Parish. They're a little slower than others coming back, but it's a
result of -- I mean, the devastation there was just extraordinary.

MR. STANZEL: Any other questions?

Q Looking forward, any logjams that you see down the line that
need to be addressed?

CHAIRMAN POWELL: I think we continue to work on specific issues,
as we talked about. There's always going to be issues as it relates to
quality of life issues. We need to make sure that we're homing in on
those things. You can't rest, you can't -- you've got to be attacking
the rebuilding on every front.

Q Any specific examples there?

CHAIRMAN POWELL: Well, I think -- for instance, one of the things
that we were keyed in on within the last six months -- we had,
obviously, school coming up and there were 6,000 students coming back.
Are we going to be ready? I mean, think about if you had had 6,000
kids, and you didn't have classrooms, or you didn't have teachers, or
you didn't have administrators. Well, today -- and this was not without
a lot of people working -- I get cold chills -- working very hard toward
this effort. There is now -- those students are going to be in
classrooms, and they will have as many as 7,000 excess seats ready for
students coming in. Teachers are there; they have enough teachers,
saving except some specialty areas like disabled kids. But they've got
enough teachers and administrators. Schools are open -- going to be
open.

Will there be some glitches after schools open? Sure, from buses
to normal things -- cafeterias to whatever. But the school system is
ready to accept those kids. I think that's a combination of a lot of
people working toward that area. And incidentally, I think education is
a bright spot, one of the bright spots in New Orleans. Half the schools
are charters.

MR. STANZEL: All right, thank you all very much. Appreciate it.
Any other questions?

Q Can you just give us a sense of what we might except to hear
-- the kinds of things we might expect the President to say tomorrow in
his two statements?

MR. STANZEL: I think that you'll hear the President talk about the
federal commitment to helping the people of the Gulf Coast rebuild.
He'll talk about areas where we've had success. He'll talk about, as
Chairman Powell just noted, efforts that are underway in terms of
education. As you know, the President, at the beginning of March,
visited a charter school. He'll be back at one tomorrow. Charter
schools are providing an opportunity for increased flexibility, while
having greater accountability and delivering real results for the
children of the Gulf Coast, and New Orleans, in particular.

So I think you'll hear him talk about those efforts and how we can
continue to focus on getting results and helping the people of the Gulf
Coast rebuild their lives after such a devastating storm. The area
impacted by this storm was the area the size of the United Kingdom. So
it was a rather large area that was impacted and it's taking time to
rebuild. But we need to continue to work with state and local partners
and make sure that happens.

Q Any new initiatives, or is he -- does he see any logjams from
Congress that he needs to -- he will be prompting them to break?

MR. STANZEL: I think the President will continue to work with
leaders in Congress to make sure that the funding and the resources are
there. As I noted earlier, there are over $114 billion has been
committed from the federal government.

Q -- sense of urgency --

MR. STANZEL: Correct. And 84 percent of that has been disbursed
or is available to the states for use. As Chairman Powell talked about
the levees, in the President's 2009 budget he will request $7.5 billion
for the levees.* That will take the total levee funding to $15 billion.
So that's an area that we'll continue to work with Congress on. That's
very important.

Q What's the holdup for the other, whatever the difference
between $114 billion and $96 billion --

MR. STANZEL: That would have been a great question to ask Chairman
Powell.

Q Is that something where you need Congress to go along? Why
has that money not been --

MR. STANZEL: You know, a lot of times, in the way programs work,
some things -- there are triggers put in place; they have to reach
certain benchmarks. I don't know. I can check with Chairman Powell.

Q Is that $7.5 billion new?

MR. STANZEL: Yes, yes.

Q We haven't heard that before.

MR. STANZEL: He announced it last week.

Q That's billion? With a "b"?

MR. STANZEL: B, with a b, as in boy. Any other questions?

Q Powell?

MR. STANZEL: P-o-w-e-l-l.

Q What's his title?

MR. STANZEL: His title is -- let me get the specific --Federal
Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding.

Q Anything new on the schedule for Thursday or Friday?

MR. STANZEL: No.

Q Thank you.

END 6:06 P.M. EDT

* To clarify, President Bush will request the federal share of the additional $7.6 billion needed from Congress in his FY 2009 budget to complete these improvements. This funding will allow the Army Corps of Engineers to complete its work to improve storm and flood protection infrastructure in Greater New Orleans to a 100-year protection level by 2011. It will also fund a $1.3 billion network of interior drainage projects to ensure the area has a more complete hurricane protection system.